


Shocked Into Silence

by Mrs_SimonTam_PHD



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [22]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Going into Shock, Mentions of Death, Psychological shock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:01:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24486295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_SimonTam_PHD/pseuds/Mrs_SimonTam_PHD
Summary: Hotch numbly remembers what happened and wonders why he feels this way.
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1595023
Comments: 10
Kudos: 37





	Shocked Into Silence

**Author's Note:**

> Another fill for my Bad Things Happen Bingo
> 
> Square: Going Into Shock

Hotch stared off into space, not really seeing anything as he does so. He doesn’t hear the sirens or the quiet, subdued voices of his team. He doesn’t even really feel the reassuring touches that they give him, or the blanket that was draped around him. 

He didn’t know what this feeling of numbness was, he didn’t have a name for it. He’s never felt it before. Not when Charles Hotchner nearly beat Deborah Hotchner to death and a young Aaron sat next to her, wondering if he should take Sean and run. He didn’t feel it when he came home and seen that Hayley had left, taking Jack with her. Not when Foyet attacked him, or when Foyet had killed Hayley while he listened in on the call, wondering if Jack was hiding where he was supposed to be. 

All he could see was the unsub picking the members off his team while he was in a different room, tied to a chair, watching on the large screen, screaming out their names in a futile effort to warn them. 

Being kidnapped was a shock, if he was honest, but Hotch never let things like that phase him. Being told by the unsub that he was going to make him watch each of them die before he was murdered, kind of like a family annihilator, was somewhat normal. It’s not the first time an unsub has made the same threat. However, actually seeing it and believing that he’s going to experience it was entirely different. 

The first one was Morgan. Hotch clearly remembered screaming his name as the unsub fired two shots into his shoulder. Morgan managed to get cover somewhere that he could easily defend. He was hurt, but he’ll live. Morgan was tough, one of those bullets had entered his armor, and he was hiding now. There was no need to have to call his mother and sisters to tell them that he failed to keep Morgan safe. 

JJ was next, and he sobbed out her name as he saw a bullet enter her thigh and she fell, before crawling over towards Morgan. He looked at the trail of blood on the ground and wondered how he was going to tell Henry that his Mommy was gone. Forget Henry, Will would probably murder him for not keeping his wife safe. 

Reid was definitely the hardest. Hotch screamed wordlessly at that one. Reid hadn’t drawn his weapon, he had tried to talk the unsub down, using his brain as a weapon. The unsub didn’t care, and shot Reid three times. Once in the stomach, twice in his legs. Hotch pounded his fists the best he could against the arms of his chair, tears running down his face as he saw Reid trying to stop the bleeding. How does one tell a woman who is schizophrenic and has Alzheimer’s that her only child is dead, knowing that she may not remember it from one day to the next, without traumatizing her?

Thankfully, Reid was the last one, as Prentiss and Rossi managed to subdue the unsub, freed Hotch, and requested medical. Medical came out and whisked the three injured agents away. Meanwhile, Hotch was vividly recalling each bullet that hit his agents and the way that they fell to the ground, the way that their faces paled as blood bloomed from various wounds. 

He was cold. Very cold. He tightened the blanket around him. Biting his lip, he seemed to come back to himself and looked up at Rossi and Prentiss. “What happened?” he asked hoarsely. 

“You went into a form of shock,” Rossi said calmly. 

Hotch nodded, looking for the rest of his teammates. “Where-” 

“At the hospital,” Prentiss replied. “They lifted Reid out first due to his injuries, but it was a clean passthrough. Don’t worry, he was annoying the paramedics in a weak voice. Morgan’s already been discharged, but he won’t leave until JJ and Reid are done.” 

Hotch gave a small smile. “They’ll be okay?” he asked softly. 

“Yeah,” Rossi smiled. “We caught the bad guy, Dannheimer is in custody. And now, Aaron, it’s your turn to go to the hospital. You need to be checked out.” 

“Yeah, you’ve got the blood pressure of a newborn and you’re freezing,” Prentiss said as they climbed into the back of the ambulance with Hotch, effectively preventing an escape route. 

Hotch laid back on the gurney and let the paramedics tuck him into it and hook him up. Once he heard the machines beeping, he looked up at them. His O2 stats were less than desirable, but not too bad. His pulse, low but okay. His blood pressure, however… “I didn’t know that I could have double digits anywhere in my life any more except for my age,” he joked weakly as he stared where the monitor read 60/40. 

“It’s a symptom of being in shock, but it’ll go back up,” the paramedic said as he put another blanket over Hotch. “Just let us take care of you and your team, Agent Hotchner.” 

Hotch nodded, smiling as Rossi patted his hand and they drove towards the hospital. 

His team- no, his family- was safe. That’s all that mattered. 

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: @lucibae-is-dancing-in-hell
> 
> Twitter: @Alendra_Dragon
> 
> Comments and Kudos


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